𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

Adrian Newman

"Do you have a curfew tonight?" I ask. Hope shakes her head no and smiles. I put my arm around her waist and say, "Good because I really want you to meet someone today." She furrows her brows in confusion.

"Who?"

"A thirteen-year-old girl that's in my apartment right now," I say, hoping she'll get the hint. She zones off for a few seconds, then her mouth opens in realization. Last night, I promised Sophia she'd meet Hope. She's really excited to meet her.

"Your sister? Sophia?" Hope exclaims. I nod my head.

"If it's okay with you," I add. Hope nods excitedly. She's seriously so cute when she's excited. I kiss the side of her head. I guess the saying is real. The third time's the charm. Hope and I start walking to my apartment. This is the first time I'm bringing her to my apartment. Right as I'm about to enter the key, Hope stops me with her hand.

"What if she doesn't like me?" Hope asks.

"She defended you when you hated me," I say. I still remember, that one time I was on the phone call with her complaining about Hope. Sophia was being understanding of her even though Hope was trying to get me fired. I just know she's gonna love Hope. "She's gonna love you I promise." I peck her lips before opening the door. She inhales nervously and I gesture for her to walk in.

She looks around the apartment. "Sophia!" I call out. I place another kiss on Hope's head for reassurance. She smiles at me and Sophia walks out of her room. "Here's the person you wanted to meet." Hope nervously walks up to her and stretches her hand out to shake Sophia's but Sophia pulls Hope into a hug.

Seeing them together has become my favorite thing.

"My brother talks a lot about you," Sophia teases.

"Does he?" Hope looks over at me and smirks.

"Yes! Before it was a bunch of complaining but now he never shuts up about how pretty you are and how—" I cover her mouth with my hand.

"You talk too much," I say.

—

"I've read a book about that," Sophia remarks. "The two main characters despise each other in the beginning. They even almost kill each other but they still fall in love in the end." My eyes widen. I look behind me at the pile of books Sophia buys whenever I take her to the book store. What kind of books have I been buying her?

"I didn't despise Adrian," Hope says, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"You tried to get me fired," I remind her.

"But luckily I didn't succeed," Hope leans over and kisses my cheek.

"You did end up getting fired because of her," Sophia points out. "Your fault though, couldn't keep your mouth off of her's." Hope turns her face away from me but I can hear her silently laughing.

A phone starts ringing. The three of us pull our phones out. "It's mine," Hope says. "I'm gonna go answer this outside." I nod and Hope walks out of the apartment.

I look over at Sophia. "I'm gonna embarrass you just like that in front of your future boyfriends," I say as I throw a pillow at her. She catches it and throws it back at me.

Sophia grins and asks, "I can have a boyfriend!?"

"Absolutely not."

Hope Ashford

"You need to come home right now!" I've never heard him this angry before. I just know my mom twisted everything to make me look bad. To make Adrian look bad. "Now, Hope." Before I can say anything else, he ends the call. I let out a quickly frustrated sigh.

I open the door and see Adrian on the phone. "We'll be right there," I hear him say. He puts his phone in his pocket and looks at me. "Your dad knows you're with me. He wants us at your house as soon as possible." He knows that I'm with Adrian and he didn't tell me when we were on the call.

"Sophia, don't open the door to anyone okay?" Adrian instructs. Sophia nods her head. "Let's go." I follow Adrian. We start walking back to my house. I'm terrified. My dad has never been this mad at me before. I heard the tone in his voice. He's frustrated and I just know my mom filled his head with the wrong idea.

I get more nervous when I see my house from a distance. I love my dad, but I'm not letting him decide who I want to be with. I'm eighteen for fuck's sake, I can make my own decisions. I'm not that same little fifteen-year-old girl who had to make sure her parents approved of all my boyfriends. The only reason they would approve of my boyfriends was that they came from wealthy families.

They shouldn't treat Adrian differently. The big difference between Adrian and my past boyfriends is that Adrian is the only one who managed to make me fall in love with him. I hardly felt anything for the boys I've dated in the past.

We finally make it to the gate. Jeremy opens it for us. "Miss Hope, your dad wants to—"

"I should've known you two would be together!" my dad shouts. He sounds even angrier in person than he did over the phone. I'm dying to know what lies my mom told him. "You!" my dad points at Adrian. "You had one job! That job was to take care of my daughter not to mess around with her!" My mom walks out of the house with her arms crossed.

"You two are so fucking controlling over my life!" I shout back.

"You're living under my roof! You spend my money! And you will continue to do as we say while we look out for you." The sudden urge to bring up that day at the river when I was younger rushes through me. The urge to blame him to make him feel bad but I stay quiet. I won't stoop that low, especially out of anger.
"You can't see him anymore."

"Fine," I say. "Jeremy, pack my things. I'm leaving."

Adrian grabs me and turns my face to look at him. "No, Hope. You can't leave your parents because of me. Think about what you're doing."

"It's not just because of you," I turn to look at my parents. "They're being controlling of every step I make. And dad, you need to stop letting my mom manipulate you. My mom who by the way..." I'm saying it. I'm tired of lying to him. "Is cheating on you!"

"I've had enough of you!" my mom shouts at me. "We don't have to deal with all of this, you're not even our real daughter!"

"ELLA!"

What?